Vending-machine.



S. C. BARR.

VENDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION mmv nov. 21. |916.

Patented 060.29, 1918.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

(S. C. BARR.

VENDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED Novx 21, I9I6.

L282,727 Y PIIIenIed oI. 29, 1918.,

6 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

INI!" 'n I- m n;

S. C. BARR.

VENDING MACHINE.

. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 27,1916.

1,282,727'. Patented Oct. 29, 1918.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

nu: mms persas co., rnn'mumo., wsumcraw. n. a

S. C. BARR.

VENDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED Nov. 21. 191s.

l' ,2182,'Y271 Patented Oct. 29, 1918.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

j Fw

S14-vanto@ S. C. BARR.

VENDING MACHINE.. APPLICATION FILED Nov. 21, 191e.

1,282,727. Patented oct. 29, 1918.

GSHEETS-SHEET 6.

mann sraans rarnnr onirica SAMUEL C. BARR, OF CHILLICOTHE, OHIO,ASSIGNOR T0 THE BARR COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

VENDING-MAGHINE.

weaver.

To @ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL C. BARR, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chillicothe, in the county of Ross and State of Ghio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Vending-Machines, ofwhich the following is a specification.

rlhis invention relates to vending ma chinos and is designedparticularly as a machine whereby a person may test his eyes and obtainthe desired lenses by the'manipu lation of certain elements inconnection with the dispensing mechanism.

In this connection, my invention resides essentially in the combinationof a test lens holding means provided with a plurality of y test lensesof varying properties, with mechanism for holding and dispensingfor-sale lenses which have the same property as signified by the testinglens. My invention also resides in the different types of structuresembodied in the above features for carrying forth the objects sought.

i further object of the invention resides in means whereby the patronmay test his eyes as to various focal lengths and also may test them asto distance and, after the proper lens has been determined, obtain thedesired lenses 'by the proper manipulation of the dispensing mechanism.y

Still a further object of the invention resides in a means whereby onlyone eye may be tested,if desired, therebyenabling the patron todetermine whether both eyes are defective in the same manner or not, andthereby obtain the diiferent correction for either eye.

rihe preferred embodiment of my invention is shown in the accompanyingsheets of drawings, in which similar characters of reference designatecorresponding parts, and in which:

Figure l is a front view of my improved type of vending machine, y

Fig. 2 is a central vertical longitudinal section of the structure shownin Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken on line 3 3 of Fig. 2,

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary section taken on line d i of Fig. 3 and lookingin the direction of the arrows,

Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of a portion of the coin controlledmechanism.

Fig. 6 is a plan view ofthe structure shown in Fig. 5, Y f

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct.. 29, Igil.

Application led November 27, 1916. Serial No. 133,546.

Fig. 7 is a horizontal section represented by line 7 7 of Fig. 2,

Fig. 8 is a side view of the mechanism for adjusting` the tester card,

Fig. 9 is a section taken on line 9-9 of Fig. 8,

Fig. 10 is an enlarged section taken on line lO-lO of Fig. 2,

Fig. ll is a vertical section through one of the disks shown at theright of Fig. l and represented by line 11-11 of Fig. l, and,

Fig. l2 is a detail view of a portion of the for-sale lens carrierillustrating the specific construction of one of the compartments.

The entire structure is preferably mounted within the interior of acasing l, whose top, two sides and rear end are preferably made ofglass, as is shown, and suitably assembled to present a rigidconstruction. The front wall 2 is preferably of metal construction andcarries a pair of supporting disks 3, which disks are each provided witha plurality of openings i in which the test lenses are suitably.supported. These test lenses are all of varying properties and the twodisks are each provided with a series of gear teeth 5 so that rotationof one willA cause a corresponding rotation of the other to successivelypresent pair of lenses of different properties, whereby the patron maytest his own eyes. The structure for supporting these disks is bestshown in Fig. l1, in which it will be seen that the front wall 2 isprovided with a stud 6 upon which the sleeve 7 is rotatably mounted. Toeach of these sleeves, the respective disks 3 are rigidly secured and onthe outside end of the sleeve upon which the disk shown to the right ofFig. l is mounted, there is provided a knob 8 so that the user mayreadily turn the saine. Each disk is also provided withv a cover plate 9secured in position in any desired manner and which cover plate is inturn provided with an eye opening 10 arranged side by side as is shownand it is through these openings 10 that the patron must look. The coverplate 9 shown to the right of Fig. 1 is also provided with an index dial11 which, in the present case, is numbered from l to 12, which is thenumber of test lenses to be found in each of the disks 3. Should thepatron desire to test only one eye at one time, the cover plate l2 maybe swung toa position to cover either of the openings 10, since thiscover plate is pivotally mounted at its lower' end, as shown at 13. Inthis manner, both eyes may be tested, but this test may not necessarilybe simultaneous. It will, therefore, appear that as the knob 8 isturned, successive pairs of lenses are presented beneath the openingsl() and if these test lenses are all of different properties, the patronmay verv readily determine which set suits his eyes best.

In direct testing alinement with the open ings 10 and within the cabinet1 there is mounted a testing card 14, which testing card is designed tobe adjusted either forward or backward to present different focallengths, as may meet the requirements ot the patron. To accomplish this,I have mounted the card 14 upon a hinge member 15 at its lower end andthis hinge member is in turn hingedly mounted to a base 16, this latterbeing in rigid connection with the rack shown at 17. The rack is in slidable engagement with a guideway 18 in the guide member 19, which latterextends from the front wall of the casing rearwardly. The rack 17 isdesigned to be moved back and forth within the guideway 18 and in thismanner the card 14 is moved toward or away from the particular lenseswhich hap pen to be in back of the openings 10. In order to accomplishthis adjustment, the underside of the guide member 19 is slotted asshown at 2O and in this slotted portion the pinion 21 is designed tooperate. This pinion is in engagement with the rack bar 17 and ismounted upon a shaft 22 which extends laterally, as best shown in Figs.9 and S and is journaled at its outer end in an upstanding standard 23.The end beyond the standard 23 is also provided with a pinion 24 andthis latter is designed to operate in conjunction with a segmental rack25 pivotally mounted to the standard 23, as shown at 26. This segmentalrack is in turn pivotally connected at 27 with a link 28 the other endof which link is in turn pivotally mounted at 29 in connection with thepush rod 30 whose head portion 31- projects beyond the front wall ofthe'casing. Thus, by pulling on the portion 31, the segmental rack 25will cause a rotation of the shaft 22 by means of the pinion 24 and thisin turn causes the pinion 21 to be rotated to move the rack 17 back andforth in its guideway 1S.

Should the patron desire a test for distance, means are provided wherebythe tester card 14 is withdrawn from View and inasmuch as the rear ofthe cabinet is made of glass,` a similar card may be placed in a remoteposition in testing alinement with the testing lenses, or anarrangement. of mirrors may be resorted to. In the present instance.the. .hisse member l5 of the, testing,

' guide member 19.

card 14 is provided with a depending linger 32 projecting beneath thehinge portion and in such position as to engage the roller mounted on astud 34 on the rear end ot the The card 14 is itself `normally held inupright position by means of the spring' 35, but when the plungerO ispulled out a suthcient distance, the indicator card will have movedrearwardly a distance to bring the iinger 32 into engagement with theroller 33. Continued movement then causes the card 34 to turn downagainst the pressure of a spring 35, thus removing it from interference,for a distance test.

Within the cabinet there is rotatably mounted a cage member or for-salelens carrier 36 provided with a double row of compartments 37. Each rowor' compartments corresponds in number with the number of test lenses oneach disk and the present invention is designed to dispense eitherspectacles or eye glasses, one of which carried in the upper series ofcompartments and the other of which carried in the lower series ofcompartments. Thi cage member is rigidly mounted upon the central shaft38 rigidly secured at its upper end as shown at 39 to the guide member19 and seated within the socket member 40 at its lower end. The cage isformed of a plurality of horizontal plates or disks 41, 42 and 43 andthe lower disk 43 is provided with a flange iitting 44 onto which thepinion 45 is rig idly connected. Thus, it will appear that rotation ofthe pinion 45 will cause a corresponding-rotation.of the cage 36. Thisrotation is accomplished in the following manner: Rotatably mounted upona stub shaft 46 adjacent the base of the cabinet is a gear wheel 47,which meshes with the pinion 45 and which also meshes with the rack barshown at 48. This rack bar is in turn slidably mounted in a track member49, which is Slotted to accommodate the portion 50 of the rack bar. Therear side of this rack bar is provided with a pair of laterali;Tprojecting flanges 51 and the portion 50 is provided with a pair otclips 52 so that while the rack is slidably mounted within the slidemember 49, it is ,also removably mounted therein. Projecting rearwardlyfrom the base 51 of the rack is a hinge portion 53 which projectsthrough the trent wall 2 of the casing and pivot-ally carries a latchmember 54. This latch member is designed to operate against the tensionet the spring 55 and also cooperates with the notched bar 56 mounted onthe front ot the casing. This bar 56 is provided with a series ofnotches corresponding with the compartments in the cage 36 and also withthe number of test lenses` in each ot the disks 3.

The manner of operating the structure thus far described is asfollowsLTheknob 8 is grasped and as the patient looks through theopenings 10 on to the tester card 14, a succession of lenses ofdifferent types or characters are presented for view. When the mostdesirable has been reached, the patron takes note of the position of thearm 57 carried by the knob 8. It will be noted by particular referenceto Fig. 11 that this arm 57 is rigid with the knob 8 and carries asocketed portion 58 at its lower end. `Within the socketed portion thereoperates a plunger 59 which is normally forced outwardly by means of thecoiled spring 60. This plunger, therefore, resiliently seats itself` inany of the sockets 61 on the dial plate 11 as the knob 8 is turned. Vhenthe desired lenses appear through the openings 10, the patron takes noteof the number on the dial 11 over which the arm 57 appears. ln Fig. 1,this arm is shown as being over the number 7. The operator then graspsthe handle 53 and unlatches the same by depression on the outer end ofthe latch 54 and moves it laterally until this latch member comes intoengagement with the notch on the bar 56 which corresponds with thenumber 7. This movement has moved the rack member 48 laterally and thismove` ment has been transmitted fto the cage 36 by means of the gear 47and pinion 45 so that the compartments 37 in the cage 36 which containthe spectacles or eye glasses having lenses of similar properties tothose of number 7, have been moved to a position of ready cooperationwith the dispensing mechanism to be presently described. j During theoperation of testing` the eyes for the most desirable type of lenses,the pat-ron `may also adjust the tester card 14 to suit his desires. Todo this, the knob 31 `is pulled or pushed as may be desired, whichcorrespondingly moves the tester cardthrough the link connection 28,segmental gear 25, pinion 24, shaft 22, pinion 21 and rack bar 17. Toobtain a distance adjustment, the knob 31 is pulled completely outward,which causes the tester card 14 to assume a horizontal position againstthe tension of the spring25 by bringing the linger 82 into engagementwith the roller 83.

Three horizontal plates 41, 42 and 48 are held spaced from each other bythe spacing rods 43a. Each compartment plate is bent as shown at 62, 63,64, 65 and 66. It will be noted that the ends of the portions 66 arespaced somewhat from the sides 64 of the adjacent compartment to give anopening space 67 through which the boXes 68 are designed to be ejected.Each compartment is further provided with a pair of springs 69 shaped asshown, and rigidly secured at one end to the walls 62. As shown in thedrawings, each compartment is designed to hold three bones 68 in whichthe glasses are packed. When one box has been ejected the springs 69serve to force the remaining two laterally, so that one of them is in aposition to be ejected on the next operation.

The dispensing mechanism is preferably coin controlled and because ofthe two segies of compartments, one for eye glasses and the other forspectacles, two coin slots 70 have been provided. Referring to Fig. 4,which is a face view of the inside of the front plate 2, it will benoted that a coin chutej71 is provided for each coin opening 70. A latchmember 72 is also pivotally mounted, as shown at 7 3, so that its rearend lies in the path taken by the coin after it has been deposited. Eachof these latch members is so proportioned and counterweighted that whenthe coin has been dropped thereon, the rear end is depressed under theweight of the coin and this coin then passes down the chute 71 towardthe money drawer.

After the coin has been deposited, either of the plungers 74 designatedspecs and eye glasses in Fig. 1, is pushed. These plungers are normallyheld locked by the front ends 75 of the levers 72, by seating themselvesin the vertical output portion 76. The inner wall of each of these slots76 terminate short of the other to present a. rearwardly extendingincline 77 and the weight of the coin previously inserted, is suiiicientto elevate the end 75 of the proper latch lever 72 to a position ofrelease out of the slot 7 6. In this position, the lever is stopped byone of the springs shown at 7 8, but a push upon the plunger 74 causesthe weighted end 75 of this lever to ride the incline 77 against thetension of the spring 78. In order to insure the proper operation of thedispensing mechanism, it is essential that whichever plunger 74 isoperated, it shall move its full distance beforeit returns. For thisreason, a portion of the plunger is provided with a series of teeth 79which cooperate with the dog 8O pivotally supported to the casingframework, as shown at81. This dog is held in the position shown in Fig.5 by means of the tension spring 82 so that inward movement of theplunger 74 causes the dog to tilt slightly to come into abuttingengagement with the teeth 79. Return movement of the plunger is thenimpossible until it has been pushed its full distance to move thecut-out portion 83 to a position beneath the depending portion of thedog to allow it to reverse its movement. i

The inner end of each plunger 74 is provided with an upstanding arm 84onto which a pair of spring lingers 85 are secured. Reference to Fig. 3will show that these spring` lingers 85 are provided with hook 86 ontheir ends and are shaped to enter through the openings 67 ofthecompartments when the cage has been properly positioned. Therefore,during the time that the plunger' is being pushed in, the lingers 85also move inwardly in the space between the plates forming the variouscompartments and directly beneath the entrance portions designated 67.When the stroke has been completed, the hook portion 86 will have comeinto engagement with the rear side of the box and return movement willthen cause this box to be withdrawn and passed into the chute 87. Thischute 87 eX- tends down through the ioor of the cabinet. into the space88 from whence the patron may remove his purchase. It will be noted thatthe gear wheel 4:7 is provided with spokes on its inner side only, so asto permit this chute 87 to pass through the base of the cabinet withoutinterference from the gear wheel itself. Also, in Fig. 2, there is showna deflector plate 89, which prevents the boxes from the upper series ofcompartments from catching on any of the projections forming thedispensing mechanism for the lower series of compartments.

Thus, it will be apparent., that upon desiring a pair of glasses, thepatron iirst tests his eyes by turning the knob 8 until he ascertainsthe proper lens number. The handle 53 and latch 54 are then operated tobring the latch structure into engagement with the notch on the bar 56which corresponds with this number.- The patron next decides whether hedesires eye glasses or specs and drops his coin in the correspondingcoin opening 70. After having done this, the proper plunger 74 ispushed, whereby the spring fingers 85 come into engagement with the boxcontaining the glasses and return movement 0f this plunger causes itsejection. It will be readily understood that any desired number ofcompartments, sections and coin deposit places may be used but, for thesake of convenience, I have only shown two sections and coin depositplaces and twelve compartments.

What I claim, is:

1. In a vending machine of the character described, the combination witha casing, of

a shaft rotatably mounted within said casing, a cage lstructurerotatable with said shaft and including a plurality of article receivingcompartments, a discharge chute, rack and gear mechanism for selectivelyalining any one of said compartments with said discharge chute, Vandarticle ejecting means embodying a coin controlled plunger having hookedextremities, said extremities being movable into engagement with anarticle positioned in a compartment to discharge same into said chute.

2. In a vending machine of the character described, the combination witha casing, ot

@epics of this patent may be obtained for a rotatably mounted cagestructure positioned within said casing including a plurality ofconcentrically arranged article receiving compartments, an articledischarge chute, gear and rack mechanism cooperative with said structureto selectively revolve the compartments of' the latter into registrationwith said chute, means ot ejecting an article from a compartment intosaid chute, said means including a slidable plunger, a coin controlledcatch for normally locking said plunger against inward movement, and ahooked element carried by said plunger for engagement with a.compartment carried article for discharging the latter into said chuteupon the reciproca-tion of said plunger.

3. In a vending machine, the combination with a casing oi" an articlecontaining structure rotatably mounted within said casing, a dischargechute, means for revolving said structure to selected positions,including a pinion fixed to the axis of said structure, a gear meshingwith said pinion, a slidably supported toothed rack engaging with saidgear, an arm secured to said rack and extending through a slot formed insaid casing, a stationarily supported recessed bar, a locking leverpivotally carried by the outer end of said arm and engageable with therecesses of said bar, whereby upon the movement of said arm saidstructure will be revolved to selective chute alining position andmaintained therein, and coin controlled plunger mechanism fordischarging articles from said structure into said chute` 4. In avending machine of the character described, the combination with acasing, oir' a rotatably mounted cage structure positioned within saidcasinof and including a plurality ot concentricall-y arranged articlereceiving compartments, a discharge chute, gear and rack mechanism forselectively revolving said compartments into operative alinement withsaid chute, means for ejecting an article from said selected compartmentinto said chute, said means consisting of a coin controlled plunger,resilient means engageable with teethtormed upon said plunger to permitof the partial actuation thereof, and hooked elements carried by theinner extremities of said plunger and operable to engage an articlepositioned within said selected compartment to eject the same into` saidchute, substantially as set forth In testimony whereof I ailiX mysignature in presence of two witnesses.

SAMUEL C. BARR.

Witnesses:

WALTER E. L. BooK, A. L. PHELrs.

ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner af Patente. Washington, D.C.

